1 year ago today...

1 year ago I had enough. Enough of being tired. Enough of hating how I looked. Enough of...enough. I was at my breaking point and was done.

I really think turning 35 in December of 2007 was a turning point. As I posted here, I have said for the last couple of years that I need to do something and was not going to be like this at 40. And I half-heartedly tried. At the time I meant it and started off well but in the end I just wasn't at my breaking point where I was totally committed to change. The "commitments" were temporary at best.

I found myself saying that I have 5 more years to get myself together. But then I realized that 5 years would essentially mean never going to happen. So I changed my statement to not be 36 and like this. I signed up on Jan 10, 2008. But this time was different and I knew it. My whole attitude about it was different and the reasons why were too. I was doing it for me. Not for my wife or for attention from other people, but for me. I was putting myself on the list of priorities. And it felt good. It still feels good to be on that list; everyday. And I have not regretted it.

So where am I at on this mile-marker of the road of life? Am I different now that I am 36 (commentary: how strange is to say I am 36; Shouldn't I be more "grown up" and responsible and in a higher level job making more and whatever else than I am?) Yes I am.

At this time last year:

• I weighed in at 263 pounds
• Wore XXL shirts and 44 waist pants
• If there was any exercise, running lasted for 1 minute at 4.5 mph at a time (pathetic!)
• Resting blood pressures were 120/80 and resting heart rate was in the 70 - 80 range
• Meals consisted of my plate plus whatever my family didn't
• Vegetable and fruit were hardly in the picture; unless it was lettuce and tomato on a burger.

There is a lot to say about the above picture, yet at the same time there is nothing that can be said. There is no way that I was that big, but there it is. What is the phrase, the camera doesn't lie? I didn't think that is how I looked. This is what 263 looked like and it wasn't pretty and wasn't happy. And I just didn't even know it.

And now:

• I weighed in today at 206
• Wear large shirts and 36/38 pants (mostly 36)
• Exercise is at least 4 days a week and running lasts to where I can complete a 5K in just under 30 minutes and can last a boot camp style workouts.
• Resting blood pressures are 80/40 - 90/50 and resting heart rate is in the 45-55 range (only 60 sitting here at my desk). I actually can get a little light-headed sometimes (not often) when I stand up.
  
• I eat my vegetable and fruits first before the main course, but I still like my burgers.
• My plate is my own; leave the others alone (98% of the time anyway)
  

My original intention was to be at my goal weight of 180 (now rethinking that for maybe 190) by this time. But as life has a way, it got in the way for several months. I got to 200 at the end of August, but family issues had me traveling every weekend and I put back on about 10 over 3 months (not too bad)and was able to maintain and am in progress of getting back to business. So even though I did not make my goal, I am still in a far better place than I was. I am happier and most importantly, healthier. My son asked me the other day when I was going to go run and I asked why. He wants to go with me. How cool is that? Who says I am the only one benefiting?

I watched The Biggest Loser the other night. While they were showing these guys their MRI compared to a normal MRI, all I could wonder is what had I done to myself all of these years. I am thankful God designed me so that my body tolerated as much as it did for so many years. I cannot ask to have been more blessed when I think about it and how he used those weaknesses about myself as a needle to supr my changes. I realize that even though I am a parent to 2 great kids (who are both under 10) and a husband to a very understanding but wonderful wife and have those responsibilities, I have to put time in the day for me. And it has to be more than just the TV. To think what I could possibly have missed or had to deal with had I not made changes just absolutely sickens me.

These are just ramblings and may not mean anything to anyone else who may read this. They are for...me to look back and see just how far I have come.

The Senility Prayer

--- Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman: "And
what do you think is the best thing about being 104?"
the reporter asked. She simply replied, "No peer
pressure."

--- The nice thing about being senile is you can hide
your own Easter eggs

--- Just before the funeral services, the undertaker
came up to the very elderly widow and asked, "How old
was your husband?" "98," she replied. "Two years older
than me." "So you're 96," the undertaker commented.
She responded, "Hardly worth going home, is it?

--- I've sure gotten old.! I've had two bypass
surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees. Fought
prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't
hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40
different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and
subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have
poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet
anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all
my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver's
license.

--- An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and
told her preacher she had two final requests. First,
she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her
ashes scattered over Wal-Mart. "Wal-Mart?" the
preacher
exclaimed. "Why Wal-Mart?" "Then I'll be sure my
daughters visit me twice a week."

---My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my
memory's not as sharp as it used to be.

--- Know how to prevent sagging?
Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.


---I'm getting into swing dancing. Not on purpose Some
parts of my body are just prone to swinging.

---It's scary when you start making the same noises as
your coffeemaker.

---These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart
says, "For fast relief."

---Don't think of it as getting hot flashes. Think of
it as your inner child playing with matches.

---Don't let aging get you down. It's too hard to get
back up.!

--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow
old, You grow old because you stop laughing.

--THE SENILITY PRAYER : Grant me the senility to
forget the people I never liked anyway, the good
fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to
tell the
difference.